Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

Property Development: Greater London

Lord Mawson: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to connect the building developments in East London Tech City with the developments in the Lower Lea Valley.

Lord Maude of Horsham: The Mayor of London is responsible for economic development in London, as well as housing policy and delivery and strategic planning. These responsibilities come together through the statutory London Plan. Thus it is for the Mayor and the Greater London Authority, working with the relevant London boroughs, to make the most of the important opportunities provided by the developments in East London Tech City and the Lower Lea Valley.

Social Services: Training

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask Her Majesty’s Government why the training scheme to create a career ladder for care workers by developing the role of care practitioners has been cancelled.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: The Government is spending significant sums this year (circa £130 million) to train and develop the adult social care workforce; this includes £12m for the Workforce Development Fund for training to develop the workforce.Whilst pre-contract discussions had taken place, no formal financial commitment was made to this specific project by UK Commission for Employment and Skills and the project has been informed that funding is not available.In order to prioritise funding on the adult skills participation budgets, savings are being made from supporting budgets such as the UKCES.  The Government is working closely with its delivery partners, Skills for Care and National Skills Academy Social Care to improve the level of skills of the adult social care workforce.The adult social care workforce has a key role to play as service users experience of care depends heavily on the sensitivity and compassion of care workers. Better skills and training are an important part of raising standards overall.

Department for Education

Pre-school Education: Finance

Baroness Massey of Darwen: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what funding exists to provide early years education for children who cannot attend school because of health needs.

Lord Nash: The Department funds local authorities for high needs provision through the Dedicated Schools Grant. Local authorities have reported that they are planning to spend £11.62 million from this grant on children in their early years and £72.48 million on hospital education. Local authorities are able to allocate some of this funding to children who cannot attend school because of health needs. We are not able to provide a response with an amount allocated specifically to these children as the needs of children varies amongst different local authorities, and therefore it is right that decision making on allocation of funding for special educational needs and disabilities is made at a local level.

Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education

Lord Northbourne: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the role of secondary schools in building self-confidence and social and emotional skills in their pupils.

Lord Nash: All schools should equip young people with the necessary skills to leave school prepared for life in modern Britain. Personal Social Health and Economic (PSHE) education has a vital role to play in this and we want all schools to put it at the heart of their curriculum.This includes developing character traits like self-confidence, motivation and resilience. These traits support academic attainment, are valued by employers, and encourage young people to make a positive contribution to British society. Many schools are already doing this. The 27 schools and organisations that were winners of character awards in 2015 demonstrated excellence in the area. We will continue to support schools in developing these traits in pupils without prescribing compulsory measures. In order to do this, we are investing £5 million in character education, including £3.5m of grants for 14 projects and £1m to the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) to build evidence and expand research into the most effective character education.Last September, Ofsted introduced a common assessment framework for the inspection of schools, early years and further education and skills remits. There is an overall effectiveness judgement underpinned by four graded judgements, one of which is a new judgement on personal development, behaviour and welfare. This aspect, therefore, will be graded and reported on in all school inspections.Additionally, before making the final judgement on the overall effectiveness of all schools, Ofsted inspectors must evaluate the effectiveness and impact of the provision for pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. This means that when judging the effectiveness of leadership and management, inspectors will consider the design, implementation and evaluation of the curriculum, ensuring breadth and balance and its impact on pupils’ outcomes and their personal development, behaviour and welfare.

Ministry of Defence

Joint Strike Fighter Aircraft

Lord Campbell of Pittenweem: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether their most recent estimate of the unit cost of the UK’s F-35Bs has been revised (1) upwards, or (2) downwards, as a result of updated information provided by the US Joint Strike Fighter programme.

Earl Howe: We continue to see a reduction in aircraft unit costs which is in line with the estimates shown in the annual US Selected Acquisition Report. The UK's F-35 programme remains within its cost approval limit as detailed in the National Audit Office Major Projects Report 2015.

Joint Strike Fighter Aircraft

Lord Campbell of Pittenweem: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their most recent estimate of the in-service date for the F-35B aircraft.

Earl Howe: UK F-35B Lightning II Initial Operating Capability remains on schedule for 2018.

Prosthetics

Lord Empey: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how the pilot programme for Direct Skeletal Fixation is proceeding, and when they expect that pilot to be completed.

Earl Howe: Work is currently under way between the Ministry of Defence, NHS England and the UK Departments of Health to put in place a patient referral pathway to enable access for eligible military personnel and Veterans to the Direct Skeletal Fixation programme. This includes the definition of clinical criteria to access the programme as the procedure will not be appropriate for every individual. The programme is expected to begin in spring 2016 for two and a half years and the results will be published following completion.

Unmanned Systems

Lord Kennedy of Southwark: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to devise a written policy for the development, integration and use of military unmanned systems.

Earl Howe: The Ministry of Defence is currently seeking to articulate in one policy document the considerations for future UK capability requirements, development, integration and use of unmanned systems.

Syria: Military Intervention

The Marquess of Lothian: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many UK airstrikes have been carried out against Daesh in Syria over the last two months; how many of those were against (1) economic targets, and (2) human targets; and what estimate they have made of collateral damage from those strikes.

Earl Howe: As at 18 January 2016 the Royal Air Force has conducted a total of 22 air strikes against Daesh targets in Syria, beginning on the 2 December 2015 after the House of Commons vote.Of these, 11 strikes were against oil infrastructure, one was against a Daesh command and control centre and 10 were against Daesh fighters and their equipment. No collateral damage or civilian casualties arose from these strikes.

Department for Culture, Media and Sport

Athletics: Drugs

Lord Kennedy of Southwark: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the UK Athletics report A Manifesto for Clean Athletics.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: I welcome UK Athletics contributing to the debate on anti-doping and underlining its commitment to clean sport.It’s important that all sports continue to look at ways they can further promote clean sport and we will continue to work closely with UK Anti-Doping, World Anti-Doping Agency and sports governing bodies on tackling doping.

Public Records

Lord Lester of Herne Hill: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answers by Baroness Neville-Rolfe on 13 January (HL4703 and HL4704), whether they will place in the Library of the House a list of the grounds for retention linked to the relevant retention instruments.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: I refer the noble Lord to the response to HL4704.

Cabinet Office

Government Departments: Buildings

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether underused government buildings in Westminster such as the Lancaster House conference centre and the Foreign Secretary’s official residence are being considered for sale to private buyers, and if not, why not.

Lord Bridges of Headley: This government is committed to rationalising and reducing the government estate to realise efficiencies and release value. By identifying underused properties and modernising our buildings to make better use of a smaller number of properties, we have reduced our Estate by 2 million square metres, saving over £750 million in running costs and generating nearly £1.8 billion in capital receipts since 2010.Both Lancaster House and 1 Carlton Gardens are properties leased by the Foreign & Commonwealth Office from the Crown Estate. The Foreign & Commonwealth Office is therefore not in a position to sell either property. Both properties are in regular use for either conferences, meetings or official hospitality.  All Foreign and Commonwealth Office properties are under regular review to ensure value for money.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Thames Tideway Tunnel

Lord Berkeley: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether, in deciding on measures to limit pollution from storm water overflows in accordance with the footnote to Annex I.A of the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive (91/271/EEC), they have specified a certain acceptable number of storm water overflows per year in respect of the Thames Tideway upstream of Beckton; and, if so, what that number is.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble: We have not specified an acceptable number of storm water overflows per year in respect of the Thames Tideway upstream of Beckton. The approach we have taken in the Tideway area is to improve sewage treatment and to increase the capacity of the collecting system, with a view to meeting agreed environmental objectives and to complying with the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive. The measures to deliver this are the Lee Tunnel, the Thames Tideway Tunnel and upgrades to five major sewage treatment works in London.

Environment Agency: Public Appointments

Lord Lester of Herne Hill: To ask Her Majesty’s Government why chairing the Environment Agency is a part-time post.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble: The Agency has a full time Executive and CEO who are responsible for all operational decisions.The role of the Chairman is to hold the Executive to account through regular meetings and committees and provide leadership and strategic vision for the Board.The Chairman does not operationally manage day to day business and is therefore part-time. This is the usual case for Chair appointments to Public Bodies across Government.

Environment Agency: Redundancy Pay

Lord Palmer: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much severance pay was offered, and subsequently paid, to the Chairman of the Environment Agency prior to his resignation.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble: Sir Philip Dilley will work until the end of January to allow a measured transition. He will receive no severance package.

Water Companies: Profits

Baroness Jones of Whitchurch: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have had with Ofwat concerning the profits made by water companies between 2010 and 2015.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble: The Government has regular discussions with Ofwat about its strategic priorities and objectives for regulation of the water sector.Ofwat sets price controls independently of Government. This independence is crucial to ensure stable economic regulation which keeps investment costs down and customer bills low.In 2009, Ofwat set price controls for the period from 2010 to 2015. During this period water companies benefited from several factors outside their control, including low taxation and low borrowing costs. In March 2013, Ofwat challenged companies to share gains with their customers. The then Secretary of State wrote to companies in November 2013 in support of Ofwat’s drive. As a result, companies absorbed costs and provided water bill discounts worth £435 million over this period.In 2014, Ofwat delivered a tough price review which means that bills will fall by around 5% in real terms from 2015 to 2020.

Department of Health

Physiotherapy: Training

Baroness Finlay of Llandaff: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have had with Health Education England to ensure that the number of physiotherapy student commissions for 2016–17 supports the goal of increasing the number of student places outlined in the Comprehensive Spending Review, in the light of the current annual shortfall of 500 physiotherapists required to meet demand reported by the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy.

Lord Prior of Brampton: As set out in the Spending Review, from 1 August 2017, new nursing, midwifery and allied health students will no longer receive National Health Service bursaries. Instead, they will have access to the same student loans system as other students.We intend that students studying nursing, midwifery and the allied health subjects as a second degree will also be able to get student loans.The change will only affect new students commencing their courses from 1 August 2017.We plan to publish a consultation at the end of February 2016, to ask how we can successfully deliver the reforms.Under the loans system, students on nursing, midwifery and allied health courses will receive around a 25% increase in the financial support available to them for living costs. The precise change for individuals will be dependent on their circumstances – for example, where they study, the length of the course, income and residency.This will build on the success of wider higher education funding reform, enabling universities to provide up to 10,000 additional nursing, midwifery and allied health training places over this parliament, so more applicants will have the chance to become a health professional.As set out in the Health Education England (HEE) commissioning and investment plan for 2016-17, HEE plans to commission 1,439 physiotherapy training places.